Thanks for all the reviews everyone! It makes me so happy :D I've been hard at work on this story for a while now so no need to fear! This story will get better as the plot thickens!

Just as a side note, Jazz and Ironhide's accents will change now and then as I try to get a feel for them. To me Ironhide's is much more pronounced so his will be heavier than Jazz's.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe may seem a little OOC for a bit until I get a feel for them as well, especially Sunstreaker.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, it goes to HasTak. I own Aquafire, Steel Wing, Storm Ridge, Skyblitz, Wildfire, and Lightning Bolt.

Remember to review everyone! Love you all!

"What the Pit is going on!" Ratchet roared as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe dove to hide behind him.

"We walked in and this femme went crazy!" Sideswipe yelped.

"You two are the reason my trine mates are gone!" She snarled, glaring at where they were hiding.

"What the frag are you talking about?" Sunstreaker snorted.

"The few battles leading up to your escape from Cybertron, you took down my wingmates!" She accused them. "I should have known it was you pit-spawned glitches!"

"We didn't even go near your trine!" Sideswipe told her, still slightly scared that she would tear his arm off. "We were off messing with the idiot Coneheads when one of them was shot down." Aquafire tensed and tried to recall the memory. She found that he was telling the truth about Steel Wing but what of Storm Ridge?

"What about Storm Ridge?" She growled. "I know one of you did it!"

"Honest to Primus, we don't know who fired at you two," Sunstreaker bit out. "We weren't at that last battle anyway."

"He's right," Ratchet told her when he saw she didn't believe him. The femme slumped down onto a berth, optics dim. The twins hadn't killed her wingmates... It was too much for her and she collapsed.

"Mama? Mama!" Bolt tried to wake her up but she remained out cold. "Help her!" Ratchet rushed over and scanned the femme before he sighed.

"She's fine," He informed. "She just crashed," Jazz snickered and jabbed Prowl who scowled at him. Ratchet set to work on fixing the Seeker and shooed everyone else out though the twins refused to leave until they had a spark to spark talk with Aquafire. "You'll be lucky if she doesn't decide to blast you both," He snorted as he watched over his patient. Bolt, having warmed up to the twins already, was seated in Sideswipe's lap, napping peacefully. They watched as she slowly onlined and the moment she realized Bolt wasn't next to her, she began to panic. Sideswipe scooped the youngling into his arms and moved towards the berth.

"He's safe," He smiled at her. Aquafire seemed terrified when she saw her youngling in his arms and quickly snatched him back. She still didn't trust the twins, not after what they'd done to her in the past.

"Get away from me," She hissed, clutching Bolt close to her chest. Sideswipe wisely backed up towards his twin who was glaring at the femme. Ratchet, ignoring the twins, moved to the side of her berth and checked her over.

"For a femme that has never sparked before, you certainly know what you're doing," He commented, watching her reaction.

"Is it strange for a femme who has never sparked to have their parenting protocols online?" She asked him, stroking Bolt's helm gently.

"It's not unheard of," He began. "But it's very rare as well. Tell me, before you were in Shockwave's care, did you merge your spark with anyone?" Aquafire screwed up her faceplates and glared at him. "I need to know for medical reasons."

"Yes, a few bots actually," She told him carefully. "I was careful about it and I mostly merged with my one remaining wingmate. He was the last one before..." She trailed off and Ratchet nodded in understanding.

"Do you find yourself rubbing directly over your spark?" She nodded slowly, starting to piece things together on her own. "Aquafire, in most cases, when a femme or mech's parenting protocols are online, even without having given birth to a sparkling, it's usually a sign that at one point, they had in fact been with a spark."

"What... do you mean?" She stopped stroking the youngling's helm then.

"You were sparked at some point in the past," He told her softly. It was always tough to inform a bot of this kind of news, especially when they hadn't known to begin with. "I believe Shockwave had it terminated," Sideswipe rushed forward and took Bolt as the femme whimpered. She placed her servo against her cockpit and looked at Ratchet with pleading optics. "Your wingmate, Storm Ridge, was quite possibly the Sire."

"He... terminated my sparkling?" She whispered. It seemed like her processor stopped working then and the next thing she knew, Sunstreaker was helping Ratchet to restrain her as she shrieked with agony and sorrow. When she finally settled down, she opened her arms to take Bolt back and Sideswipe let her though he pushed his bottom lip out in a pout.

"Out you two," Ratchet shooed them from the med bay. "Aquafire, you can remain here until you feel you've recovered enough and then Optimus will be by to speak with you."

"Thank you," She whispered, giving her youngling a sad smile when he nuzzled her. Ratchet watched her for a moment more before he began going over a report.

-X-X-X-

Two orns passed before Aquafire felt she was ready to face Optimus without breaking down and stood at a stiff attention when he entered the med bay. Much to her chagrin, the Lamborghini twins had stopped by and taken Bolt from her. Ratchet had told her that interaction with the other Autobots would do the youngling some good and she'd reluctantly agreed though why the twins were his guardians, she would never know.

"Hello again, Aquafire," Optimus greeted her.

"Optimus Prime," She acknowledged.

"I've been over this with my men and, if you wish, you may remain here with us," He told her sincerely. "We've become quite aware of your situation and are willing to provide you with the protection you need."

"With all due respect, I do not need protecting," She frowned. "I merely need shelter."

"We both know that's not true," Aquafire stiffened and looked away. "We are willing to allow you into our ranks as well, once you've pledged yourself to the Autobot cause."

"Already did," She snapped.

"But you did not do so before me," Aquafire cursed softly. Grudgingly, the femme pledged herself to the Autobot cause and as soon her conversation with Optimus ended, she sought out Ratchet.

"This is the only time I'm going to ask you for something," She bit out. "Would you remove the Decepticon insignia from my wings?" Ratchet shuttered his optics a few times.

"Repeat that?"

"Would you remove the insignia from my wings?" She ground out.

"Of course," He nodded and had her get on a berth. "Because of where it is, this might hurt."

"Don't care," She grunted. "Just get it off." Ratchet said nothing as he began the procedure. Aquafire bent the metal edges of the berth as she anchored herself down, gritting her denta as Ratchet slowly removed the markings. When he was finished, he helped repaint the spots and buff it until it shone.

"Femme, you could use a good wash," He wrinkled his noseplates at her. "You can go use the wash racks once I've secured them to give you some privacy," Thank Primus for small favors. She nodded and watched as he sent a comm. to Red Alert, who quickly quarantined the wash racks for the femme.

"Jeez, it's like being with the Decepticons all over again," She grumbled as the medic escorted her. "Except I had my own private room after a while."

"We're getting around to it," Ratchet assured her. "Come back to the med bay when you're finished," She nodded and went in. Stepping into a stall, she turned on the hot water and let it flow over her before she got a solvent and rubbed it over her body. She became frustrated when she couldn't properly reach her wings and back and bit her bottom lip component.

"Who's in here?" She snapped when she heard someone curse.

"I'm not here to bother you," It was Sunstreaker.

"Why aren't you with your twin and my son?" She snapped at him.

"Slaggers dumped a bucket of paint on me," He complained. Aquafire allowed herself to snicker at this. She'd never met a mech as vain as Sunstreaker before and she'd quickly learned just how vain he was when she'd scratched his paint job.

"Sunshine, come make yourself useful," She grunted.

"Don't call me that!" He snarled, now stalking up to the stall she was in. "Why should I do anything for you anyway?"

"Clean my wings and back and I'll help you get payback," She told him. Sunstreaker seemed to consider this before he nodded. "Easy on the wings, groundpounder!" She hissed when he scrubbed a bit too hard.

"Hey... your Decepticon markings are gone," He noticed.

"No duh," She huffed. "Just had Ratchet remove them."

"Look, I know you still don't believe my brother and I but we really did not offline your wingmates," He knew he was stepping into dangerous territory as he cleaned her wings but he also knew he had the upper hand should she try and attack. "We made a point of not going near you."

"Why?" She whispered, wings giving away her emotions again, though Sunstreaker just thought he'd rubbed them the wrong way again.

"You are... were a trine leader," He began. "And a femme. We didn't really want to hurt you."

"But if you two didn't offline them... then... who did?" She let out a sad little trill as Sunstreaker worked between her wings.

"Dunno," He sighed softly.

"It's still my fault though," She told him bitterly. "I failed as trine leader to protect them."

"Hatchet told us you have some issues, so cut the slag out," He snapped at her. "What happened, happened. You couldn't have known someone was aiming to take them out."

"But-" Sunstreaker made a point of flicking the sensitive metal of her wing to make her yelp.

"Quit. It." He bit out. Aquafire let herself whine at him in annoyance and pain from what he'd done.

"You do not flick a ladies wings," She snapped at him.

"Right now, I see a bot acting like a sparkling," He snorted. "You need to let go of it, femme, it's in the past."

"Easy for you to say," She muttered. Sunstreaker soon finished and shoved the brush into her servo.

"I helped you now help me," He snapped.

"You're a big mech, clean yourself," She snorted before leaving. She dried off, flicked her wings and went back to the med bay, only to be tackled by Bolt. "Have a good time?" She cooed at him.

"Yeah, we had fun pranking Sunny!" He squealed happily.

"So much for keeping it a secret," Sideswipe grinned. "You've got a great youngling."

"Thanks, I suppose," She responded sheepishly. "Your brother was in the wash racks complaining about the paint."

"Wait, he was in there with you?" Sideswipe's optics widened.

"Mama? Is that bad? I get clean with you all the time," Bolt frowned, not understanding why Sideswipe was so shocked.

"It is when he disobeys an order," Aquafire snorted. "And you," She looked at Sideswipe. "Do me a favor and don't tell my son anything that will corrupt him."

"Wouldn't dream of it," His grin said otherwise though. The red twin left with a cackle, obviously planning something else that most likely involved Bolt.

"Do I want to know?" Prowl questioned as he stepped into the med bay to check on the femme.

"No, but I'd keep Bolt away from him for a while," Aquafire frowned. "What do you want?"

"I've come to check on you," He gazed at her, no emotion portrayed on his face. It creeped her out just as much as Soundwave or Shockwave.

"I'm fine aside from the run in with your resident Sunflower," She grumped. "Walked into the wash racks."

"I will speak to him of the matter later," He told her. "May I?" He looked at Bolt, obvious longing in his optics. Aquafire hesitantly handed the youngling to the former enforcer. Bolt clung to Prowl, chirping and clicking like an excited sparkling as he watched the SIC's doorwings twitch.

"Prowl, will I grow up to be like you?" He asked, not for the first time, since meeting him.

"Perhaps," He nodded. Though with how much time he spent with the twins, Prowl had no doubt in his processor he would become another prankster.

"I hope so," Bolt smiled at him. Aquafire was quite amused by the sight she was witnessing. She'd realized that Bolt would become attached to Prowl from the moment the youngling set optics on him and now she was quite certain he looked up to the older Praxian as a role model. He also looked up to Jazz and could often be found watching the Special Ops. mech training from time to time. The youngling babbled nonstop and Prowl merely listened.

"You can leave with him," Aquafire finally told the mech. Prowl nodded and left with the still babbling youngling. "Oi! Ironaft!" She called when she saw the red mech. Ironhide whipped around and growled at her before stalking over. "Wanna go a few rounds in the training rooms?" She gave him a lopsided grin. Prime had cleared her to do as she pleased once she'd pledged herself to the Autobots and she had some built up stress that needed taking care of. Sure, she could have gone off and asked one of the bots to frag her but she was still earning their trust so that wouldn't work. The next best thing was to hit the training rooms or the shooting range. "Or on the shooting range?"

"Either one will suit meh," He grumped. "Ya look like ya could use a refresher course on how ta hit a target."

"Fine," She huffed. She followed him without a word, wings held high and proud. For the good part of the next joor, the two holed themselves up at the shooting range, working off some steam.

"Not bad," He huffed when they finally stopped.

"Not bad yourself," She smirked at him. "Wouldn't mind having you as my training partner once in a while."

"Same ta ya," He nodded. They parted ways and Aquafire returned to the med bay. Ratchet was immediately in front of her and pointing towards a berth, a scowl on his faceplates.

"What did I do now?" She groaned softly as he made her lay back.

"Nothing," He grunted. "Just need to check your spark, stubborn femme."

"Why?" She snapped, glaring at him.

"Because in my initial exam, I didn't get to," He snapped back, raising a wrench threateningly. Aquafire knew by now just how handy Ratchet was with a wrench, having witnessed his talent for hitting a mech dead on in the helm quite a few times already. "I got distracted by the damage caused by the extinguished sparkling spark." The femme winced at the reminder. Reluctantly, she opened her cockpit and the plating beneath so Ratchet could examine the spark beneath. "Just gotta make sure there isn't any permanent damage. Whoever terminated it sure as Pit didn't have the correct tools to do so." Ratchet continued his little exam, poking and prodding around her spark chamber. Finally he pulled back and allowed her to seal the chamber off. "There shouldn't be any problems," He informed her. "But, the moment you feel any pain, any at all, you are to come and find me. I don't care if you're in the middle of the best 'face ever, you are to come find me."

"The others are right, your bedside manners leave much to be desired," She told him bluntly. For this, she received a whack to the helm with one of his wrenches. "Oh, I just bet you get off on seeing your patients in pain, fragger," She glowered at him and yelped, ducking to avoid another hit.

"Red Alert says your room is ready, now get!" He threw a wrench just as she ducked out of the room. Aquafire snickered to herself as she trotted away, eventually running into Jazz and Prowl.

"Where's Bolt?" She asked instantly when she didn't see him.

"Er.. we kinda... lost track a him?" Jazz offered with a grin.

"You WHAT?" She screeched, the sound echoing through the mostly quiet base. "You lost track of my son!"

"That boy has an uncanny sense of adventure," Prowl sighed. "I took my optics off of him for a nanosecond..."

"That's all it takes for a youngling to slip away," Aquafire snapped. Prowl opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. "Save it. Just help me find him," The two mechs nodded and they split up to find the now missing youngling. "When I find him, he is in so much trouble," She grumbled to herself. She searched everywhere she could think of, even the rec room but he wasn't there. By the time she met back up with Prowl and Jazz, she was on the edge of breaking down.

:Aquafire, could you come to my office?: Optimus sent her a comm. She sent a message back and high-tailed it to the Prime's office. She knocked politely and walked in, nearly sinking to her knees in relief when she did so. Bolt was safely nestled in his arms, deep in recharge and not a scratch on him.

"Oh thank Primus," She murmured.

"I found him wandering about," Optimus told her. "He said he just wanted to scare Prowl a little because he's always so serious but then he lost his way back to his office."

"Thank you, Prime," She nodded to him before she took her son back in her arms. The youngling unshuttered his optics and looked up at her sleepily. He squeaked when he realized just who it was and his doorwings trembled.

"Am I in trouble?" He asked softly.

"You scared me so much, Bolt!" She sighed, hugging him close. "I should be mad at you for running off on Prowl like that but I'm not. I'm just relieved that Optimus found you. I thought Megatron had taken you away from me."

"Whose Megatron?" He asked tiredly, wrapping his arms around her neck.

"I'll tell you some other time," She whispered. She nodded to Optimus one more time before she left, following Jazz to her new quarters. She set the security code and entered the spacious room, smiling once she was inside. The berth was big enough to accommodate two fully grown Transformers and a youngling, though she knew it was only this big because of her wings. There was a private wash rack for her, which she was grateful for and a few computers as well. A stack of datapads sat in the corner of her new desk, looking quite innocent but she had a feeling they were anything but. The femme sank onto the berth with a pleased rumble and adjusted her wings so she could lay down with Bolt. The youngling nuzzled close once he realized they were laying down and settled back into recharge Aquafire relaxed for the first time since her arrival and fell into a much needed recharge, holding her son close with a smile.